Local News

If Roscoe the dog were a cat he would already have used up at least two of his nine lives – first when someone apparently dumped him off near Lost Woods Golf Course as a skin-and-bones, flea-ridden puppy a few years ago, and then again last week when someone shot him after he wandered away from the home he shares with the Shockeys, his adoptive family, on HH Highway near Isabella. In happier times, Roscoe enjoys a golf cart ride with his family: Brandi and Matt Shockey, front, and their kids, Bradley (left) and Emma.

In his short life, the Shockey family’s beloved dog Roscoe has had some close encounters with death – and also with angels. We’re glad to report that, so far, his stories keep having happy endings.
Roscoe turned up a few years ago at Lost Woods Golf Course, where Brandi Shockey works. Still just a...

The Pontiac Price Place Volunteer Fire Department will hold its annual hunters dinner at 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, at Fire Station #1 next to the Pontiac post off Post Office on W Highway in Pontiac.
The menu will include turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, cranberry relish...

Hammond Mill Camp, Inc., will host a work day for volunteers on Saturday, Nov. 11. Help is needed for campground cleanup and other outdoor tasks. Lunch will be provided. Everyone is invited to come spend some time volunteering and enjoy the beautiful scenery at the historic Hammond Mill Camp, which...

The Brixey-Rockbridge Volunteer Fire Department will host a fall fling cookout at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, at the firehouse on Highway 95 between N Highway and Bryant Creek. Fall fling is a community event and fundraiser for the fire department. It will include a bonfire and horseshoes, and free...

The Gainesville Board of Aldermen recently accepted a donation from Donald Amyx of paved property at Main and Fourth streets in Gainesville, according to the unofficial minutes of the board’s Oct. 10 meeting. The property, a little less than an acre, adjoins the parking lot opposite City Hall that...

Rhonda Johnson, 48, of Battlefield was injured in a single-vehicle crash that occurred at 10:50 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, on J Highway. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s online crash report, Johnson was traveling northbound on J Highway in a 2004 Oldsmobile Alero when her vehicle ran off...

Sydnie Williams, 18, of Vanzant was flown by air ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Springfield Wednesday, Oct. 25, after sustaining moderate injuries in a two-vehicle accident at 3:30 p.m. on Highway 181, about 5 miles north of Dora. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol online crash report,...

Cindy and Dewane Dillon, shown here in the Indian Grass Farms bake shop they opened recently in the old barber shop on the northwest corner of the Gainesville square, have put the business on temporary hold while Dewane recovers from a recent fall from a deer stand. He suffered several injuries and was flown by Air Evac to Mercy Hospital in Springfield but expects to come home later this week.

Last weekend many Ozark County youth hunters and their adult hunting companions took to the woods in an attempt to bag a deer during the early session of Missouri’s youth deer season. That’s exactly how the day began for 12-year-old Derek Winrod, son of Nathanael and Jennifer Winrod, and his...

Hundreds of people, including Gov. Eric Greitens, many active-duty military men and women and a Shriners band, were waiting to welcome Lee Burnett and the other veterans when they returned to Springfield National Airport from their Oct. 24 Honor Flight. From left, daughter-in-law Mary Burnett, who accompanied Lee as his guardian, with Lee and his wife, Nancy.

Theodosia resident Lee Burnett, 79, had a very long day last Tuesday, Oct. 24, but it was an exceptionally good one. It was the day Burnett, an Army veteran, participated in an Ozarks Honor Flight to Washington, D.C.
Even though he and his wife, Nancy, and their daughter-in-law, Mary Burnett, spent...

Organizers have begun planning the Gainesville “Wonders of Christmas” event and the Bakersfield “Christmas Magic” event, and Nancy Walker says the annual Ozark County Toy Drive will be held Dec. 16
The Bakersfield’s “Christmas Magic” event will be held Satur-day, Dec. 2, beginning with ...

Shelby Kinsey and her boyfriend Bailey Elliott pause for a quick photo with children who were able to live in a new home thanks to building efforts by volunteers with Project H.O.P.E. Shelby met Bailey, who stays in Nicaragua as a missionary for the majority of the year, during a recent mission trip. He surprised her on Sunday, March 11, when he walked into Texas Roadhouse In Springfield, where she was celebrating her 17th birthday by having dinner there with her parents, Gary and Heather Kinsey.

After last spring’s monumental flood washed away the gravel boat ramp and much of the bank at Cook’s Landing on Bryant Creek, the Missouri Department of Conservation brought in boulders so drivers wouldn’t accidentally drive off the badly eroded creek bank.

It’s believed Sunday night’s fire started in the kitchen area of the Millers’ manufactured home, but no specific origin has been determined. Four dogs perished in the fire. Gainesville firefighter Sage McGinnis saved a fifth dog from the blaze, but another pet, a basset hound, is missing.